Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by krystalreadz
Speak by Ruby M. Darling
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This would have been even better if there was just slightly less smut and more Syndicate plot. I found myself skimming towards the end during spicy scenes to get to the rest of the plot. It got to the point where none of them could interact together without sex. It was overkill.
I love the revenge plan. I like that even though Raven was “inexperienced” she didn’t shy away from leaning into and owning her sexuality. I also like that she not only knows her limitations she also fights through them instead of being a victim. She’s resilient and strong. I have a feeling that Axel is a lot more involved in what happened to her. His guilt isn’t just from the fact he left her alone…too many things keep going back to him and Tyler. It also doesn’t make sense that she was sold to the Prescotts (specifically to Stephen it seems like) just to be targeted to die. I don’t think he would sign off on that.
Jonas is amazing. He is my favorite. Out of the 3 guys he is the one that accepts her, comforts her, pushes her, and protects her in a way that truly is real, unconditional love.
Damon is just a fucking creep dude. Like he needs a psych eval of his own. He treats her with kid gloves in the guise of counseling and psychoanalysis and he just comes off so condescending. Their relationship feels more like grooming than anything else. What he does with her knowing she’s semi drugged and lets her think it’s all dreams is so creepy and kinda violating. He’s predatory and not in the sexy primal way like Maverick.
Maverick.. he’s so rough around the edges and his brashness can be off putting, but he’s the one with the most growth. You can see how he slowly accepts that it’s not just sexual attraction, but real feelings. He softens for her, lets her in, lets the guys in. He still has a ways to go considering the ending, but I can see where it’s going and he’s going to have to battle his morals and philosophy.
The second half of this book had quite a bit of typos and missing words. The typos can be overlooked but the amount of sentences with missing words started to make it difficult to read. The pacing, the writing style, and overall storytelling was good. I like I said above, I would have preferred slightly less smut and more revenge/secret society plot.
I love the revenge plan. I like that even though Raven was “inexperienced” she didn’t shy away from leaning into and owning her sexuality. I also like that she not only knows her limitations she also fights through them instead of being a victim. She’s resilient and strong. I have a feeling that Axel is a lot more involved in what happened to her. His guilt isn’t just from the fact he left her alone…
Jonas is amazing. He is my favorite. Out of the 3 guys he is the one that accepts her, comforts her, pushes her, and protects her in a way that truly is real, unconditional love.
Damon is just a fucking creep dude. Like he needs a psych eval of his own. He treats her with kid gloves in the guise of counseling and psychoanalysis and he just comes off so condescending. Their relationship feels more like grooming than anything else. What he does with her knowing she’s semi drugged and lets her think it’s all dreams is so creepy and kinda violating. He’s predatory and not in the sexy primal way like Maverick.
Maverick.. he’s so rough around the edges and his brashness can be off putting, but he’s the one with the most growth. You can see how he slowly accepts that it’s not just sexual attraction, but real feelings. He softens for her, lets her in, lets the guys in. He still has a ways to go considering the ending, but I can see where it’s going and he’s going to have to battle his morals and philosophy.
The second half of this book had quite a bit of typos and missing words. The typos can be overlooked but the amount of sentences with missing words started to make it difficult to read. The pacing, the writing style, and overall storytelling was good. I like I said above, I would have preferred slightly less smut and more revenge/secret society plot.